Multi-fuel service station
AssigneeRHT Railhaul Technologies
InventorsFrank Wegner Donnelly, David William Dewis, John D. Watson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system(s) are disclosed for integrating a new fuel into an operating transportation system in a continuous, seamless manner, such as diesel fuel being gradually replaced by compressed natural gas (“CNG”) in long haul trucks. Integration can be implemented using two enabling technologies. The first is an engine system capable of operating seamlessly on two or more fuels without regard to the ignition characteristics of the fuels. The second is a communications and computing system for implementing a fueling strategy that optimizes fuel consumption, guides the selection of fuel based upon location, cost and emissions and allows the transition from one fuel to another to appear substantially seamless to the truck driver.
Claims16
A fuel dispensing facility, comprising:
- a first plurality of liquid fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a liquid fuel dispensing assembly to pump liquid fuel into a liquid fuel receptacle in a vehicle;
- a second plurality of compressed gaseous fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a gaseous fuel dispensing assembly to introduce gaseous fuel into a gaseous fuel receptacle in a vehicle, the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies having a rapid-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is expanded, over a rapid-fill period, from a higher pressure source to a maximum pressure of the vehicle's gaseous fuel receptacle;
- and
- a third plurality of compressed gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies each associated with a parking position in a parking area, each parking position comprising a gaseous fuel dispensing assembly to introduce gaseous fuel into a gaseous fuel receptacle in a vehicle, the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies having a slow-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is expanded, over a slow-fill period, from a higher pressure source to a maximum pressure of the vehicle's gaseous fuel receptacle.
A fuel dispensing facility comprising:
- a first plurality of liquid fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a liquid fuel dispensing assembly to pump liquid fuel into a liquid fuel receptacle in a vehicle;
- a second plurality of compressed gaseous fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a gaseous fuel dispensing assembly to introduce gaseous fuel into a gaseous fuel receptacle in a vehicle, the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies having at least the following operating modes:
- a slow-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is pressurized, over a slow-fill period, from a lower pressure to a maximum pressure of the vehicle's gaseous fuel receptacle;
- and
- a rapid-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is expanded, over a rapid-fill period, from a higher pressure source to a maximum pressure of the vehicle's gaseous fuel receptacle;
- wherein the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies comprise:
- a plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks in a cascaded storage arrangement, each of the plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks being maintained at differing pressures whereby initial filling is done at a lower pressure and final topping off is done at a higher pressure;
- plural sequencing valves in fluid communication with the plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks;
- a compressor;
- a master valve, whereby the compressor can control a pressure inside each gaseous fuel storage tank when the master valve and respective sequencing valve are open;
- plural fill valves in fluid communication with the plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks;
- a plurality of meter valves to control metered amounts of gaseous fuel to the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies;
- and
- a flow meter in fluid communication with the fill and meter valves to dispense gaseous fuel from the gaseous fuel storage tanks at a selected rate.
In a fuel dispensing facility including a first plurality of liquid fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a liquid fuel dispensing assembly to pump liquid fuel into a liquid fuel receptacle in a customer's vehicle, a second plurality of compressed gaseous fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a compressed gaseous fuel dispensing assembly to introduce gaseous fuel into a gaseous fuel receptacle in a customer's vehicle, a third plurality of compressed gaseous fuel dispensing locations, each associated with a parking position in a parking area, each parking position comprising a compressed gaseous fuel dispensing assembly to introduce gaseous fuel into a gaseous fuel receptacle in a customer's vehicle, a method comprising:
- providing, by a liquid fuel dispensing assembly, liquid fuel to the liquid fuel receptacle of a vehicle and/or;
- providing, by a rapid-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is expanded over a rapid-fill period, from a higher pressure source to a maximum pressure of a receiving gaseous fuel receptacle, gaseous fuel to a gaseous fuel receptacle of a vehicle;
- and/or
- providing, by a slow-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is expanded over a slow-fill period, from a higher pressure source to a maximum pressure of a receiving gaseous fuel receptacle, gaseous fuel to a gaseous fuel receptacle of a vehicle not provided a gaseous fuel in the compressed gaseous fuel dispensing lanes using the rapid-fill mode.
In a fuel dispensing facility including a first plurality of liquid fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a liquid fuel dispensing assembly to pump liquid fuel into a liquid fuel receptacle in a customer's vehicle and a second plurality of compressed gaseous fuel dispensing lanes, each lane comprising a compressed gaseous fuel dispensing assembly to introduce gaseous fuel into a gaseous fuel receptacle in a customer's vehicle, a method comprising:
- providing, by a slow-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is pressurized, over a slow-fill period, from a lower pressure to a maximum pressure of a receiving gaseous fuel receptacle, gaseous fuel to a gaseous fuel receptacle of a first vehicle;
- providing, by a rapid-fill mode in which the gaseous fuel is expanded, over a rapid-fill period, from a higher pressure source to a maximum pressure of a receiving gaseous fuel receptacle, gaseous fuel to a gaseous fuel receptacle of a second vehicle;
- and
- providing by a liquid fuel dispensing assembly liquid fuel to the liquid fuel receptacle of at least one of the first and second vehicle and a third vehicle,
- wherein the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies comprise:
- a plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks in a cascaded storage arrangement, each of the plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks being maintained at differing pressures whereby initial filling is done at a lower pressure and final topping off is done at a higher pressure;
- plural sequencing valves in fluid communication with the plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks;
- a compressor;
- a master valve, whereby the compressor can control a pressure inside each gaseous fuel storage tank when the master valve and respective sequencing valve are open;
- plural fill valves in fluid communication with the plurality of gaseous fuel storage tanks;
- plural meter valves to control metered amounts of gaseous fuel to the plurality of gaseous fuel dispensing assemblies;
- and
- a flow meter in fluid communication with the fill and meter valves to dispense gaseous fuel from the gaseous fuel storage tanks at a selected rate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.